When I try to start the infocenter using the minimal plugins directory, I get the following exception:

java.lang.Exception: Plugins directory /home/ole/Documents/help/eclipse/plugins does not contain a valid startup jar. Pass a correct -eclipsehome option
at org.eclipse.help.internal.standalone.Eclipse.getStartupJar(Eclipse.java:182)
at org.eclipse.help.internal.standalone.Eclipse.prepareJavaCommand(Eclipse.java:76)
at org.eclipse.help.internal.standalone.Eclipse.prepareCommand(Eclipse.java:48)
at org.eclipse.help.internal.standalone.Eclipse.run(Eclipse.java:87)

Is it possible to point the infocenter at a plugins directory that is different from the plugins directory contained in the eclipse folder? Something like -helpPluginDirectory /home/ole/help/onlyHelpPlugins

Standalone help uses the eclipse launcher and needs to know where to find that. You can specify the location using the eclipsehome parameter. Below is the documentation for this parameter

-eclipsehome eclipseInstallPath - specifies Eclipse installation directory. This directory is a parent to "plugins" directory and eclipse executable. The option must be provided, when current directory from which infocenter is launched, is not the same as Eclipse installation directory.

And now it runs, but it when I look at the URL http://127.0.0.1:46000/help/index.jsp all the help from the eclipsehome location is included in the infocenter. So it seems that instead of reading the help content from the classpath setting, it is now reading it from eclipsehome.

Is there a way to start up a minimal eclipse infocenter with just the minimal jars and only the help plugins that are user deployed? Also is this a "Documentation bug?". My understanding of the documentation is that the minimal recreated eclipse plugin directory should have had everything needed to run the infocenter?

And now it runs, but it when I look at the URL http://127.0.0.1:46000/help/index.jsp all the help from the eclipsehome location is included in the infocenter. So it seems that instead of reading the help content from the classpath setting, it is now reading it from eclipsehome.

Is there a way to start up a minimal eclipse infocenter with just the minimal jars and only the help plugins that are user deployed? Also is this a "Documentation bug?". My understanding of the documentation is that the minimal recreated eclipse plugin directory should have had everything needed to run the infocenter?

Super - I'll keep an eye on the bug reports and test out fixes. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help (Update documentation, etc.). Also, I was thinking that this could be made simpler by adding a helpPluginsHome parameter. Then the documentation would just say this:

Run eclipse standalone passing the helpPluginsHome parameter pointing to the workspace with the help plugins.

I'm running Fedora, and would love to be able to start the infocenter like this:

I need to run a minimal standalone without the need for start and stop scripts. In other words, I want users to be able to click the cross in the top-right of the browser and for it to close cleanly, including all processes, as if the stop script had been invoked. Does anyone have a suggestion for how to achieve this?

So you could deploy as described, and then just add the capabilities for starting and stopping. For an example see the Tomcat Manager Web App. It can start and stop deployed web apps per the manager page by clicking on start/stop links.

And now it runs, but it when I look at the URL http://127.0.0.1:46000/help/index.jsp all the help from the eclipsehome location is included in the infocenter. So it seems that instead of reading the help content from the classpath setting, it is now reading it from eclipsehome.

Is there a way to start up a minimal eclipse infocenter with just the minimal jars and only the help plugins that are user deployed? Also is this a "Documentation bug?". My understanding of the documentation is that the minimal recreated eclipse plugin directory should have had everything needed to run the infocenter?

And now it runs, but it when I look at the URL http://127.0.0.1:46000/help/index.jsp all the help from the eclipsehome location is included in the infocenter. So it seems that instead of reading the help content from the classpath setting, it is now reading it from eclipsehome.

Is there a way to start up a minimal eclipse infocenter with just the minimal jars and only the help plugins that are user deployed? Also is this a "Documentation bug?". My understanding of the documentation is that the minimal recreated eclipse plugin directory should have had everything needed to run the infocenter?

Super - I'll keep an eye on the bug reports and test out fixes. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help (Update documentation, etc.). Also, I was thinking that this could be made simpler by adding a helpPluginsHome parameter. Then the documentation would just say this:

Run eclipse standalone passing the helpPluginsHome parameter pointing to the workspace with the help plugins.

I'm running Fedora, and would love to be able to start the infocenter like this: